


unexpected interference

by bombshellbrunette



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, M/M, Relationship Reveal, Souyo Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 16:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19065940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bombshellbrunette/pseuds/bombshellbrunette
Summary: Yosuke had been mentally preparing himself for this moment for weeks. After months upon end of debating with himself and then, after he'd finally gathered the courage to broach the subject to his partner, with Souji, he was ready to tell the team about their relationship.Except, apparently, so were Chie and Yukiko. On the exact same day. At the exact same time.





	unexpected interference

**Author's Note:**

> its apparently souyo week 2019 and literally no one told me??? rip. i'd #dieforthem, and i've been planning to write a fic forever. hopefully i get this out on time, but if i don't, this is for day 7 – relationship reveal!  
> also this got kind of emotional at the end for me for literally no reason. idk,,, also also souji literally doesn't talk like. at all dnjnfjfnnf

Yosuke was trying really, really hard to pretend that he wasn’t on the verge of pissing his pants. The Investigation Team (with the exception of Teddie, who was off doing who knows what somewhere in town with Nanako) was gathered in one spot for one crucial reason. They were just fucking around in the Junes food court together like they did nearly every day after school now that they’d solved the murders and Souji had decided to stay, but dread was creeping down his spine nevertheless, pumping through his veins like ice water.

He looked over at Souji pleadingly for help, but his partner was deep in conversation with Rise, which maybe would have bothered Yosuke a little bit more if alarm bells weren’t flooding his senses and screaming bloody murder in his brain. _Abort mission!_ his thoughts cried out wildly, flapping their metaphorical arms in Yosuke’s direction. _This is a horrible idea!_

When they’d first tentatively gotten together after an awkward afternoon of yelling and (very manly) crying on Yosuke’s part and stunned silence on Souji’s, Yosuke had envisioned their newly formed bond as a trial period – a half gay, half not kind of relationship that could bounce between platonic hangouts at Yosuke’s to not so platonic makeouts on his bed. But now that their relationship had been going on – and going _well_ – for several months and Yosuke had sort of not really gotten over his sexuality crisis, they had decided one particularly cozy evening in Souji’s room that they were Dating. And now that they were Dating with a capital D, they were supposed to do stuff publicly that Yosuke would definitely have flipped his shit over a few months months ago. Stuff like holding hands, for example, or going on dates in Okina for everyone around them to see, or – and this was the hard part – telling their friends and family about each other.

At first, Yosuke had resisted that particular requirement. He could tell that the secrecy was hurting his partner, even though Souji never admitted it aloud, but the thought of telling his friends and more petrifyingly his _parents_ that he was going out with another guy made him sick to his stomach. But they just kept almost getting caught – holding hands and in more compromising positions, which Souji had bribed Teddie not to blab about – and Yosuke figured that at this point either he and Souji were either going to have to flee the country and live in an abandoned shack or just come clean.

Souji had calmly asked whether Yosuke was truly ready, hands folded neutrally in his lap, but Yosuke knew his partner well enough at this point to grasp that Souji was probably psyched about the whole thing. His happiness just made Yosuke feel even shittier about the whole thing, because Souji had way more to lose from this whole fiasco than Yosuke did and was, somehow, infinitely less nervous. Dating a guy, and especially a guy as despised by the general public as Hanamura Yosuke, was like a death sentence in a small town like Inaba. Once one person knew, everybody and their nosy aunt had witnessed the incident firsthand and had video footage to boot.

Still, though. Understanding that telling people about their relationship was objectively a good thing and actually going through with it were two entirely different things. Yosuke had decided weeks ago that today would be the day, but now that everyone was here, he sort of wanted to give up and go home. Which fucking sucked, because just as that thought crossed his mind Souji turned away from Rise to shoot Yosuke one of his rare smiles.

_Shit._ There was no way he could give up now. Souji’s eyes were glued to his, concerned yet also subtly expectant, and holy shit there was no way to get out of doing this he was going to do it he had to he –––

“Um,” interrupted Yukiko, cheeks pleasantly flushed and hands bunched in her uniform skirt. If Yosuke were still into that, he’d be drooling all over himself. She looked positively peachy. “We weren’t sure how to tell you all, but Chie and I decided that–– well, we decided that we’d be better off not keeping it a secret anymore.”

“Keeping what a secret, Yukiko-senpai?” chirped Rise, propping her chin up on one of her hands as she looked to Chie, who was squirming like she had ants in her pants.

“You see, Chie and I,” she began nervously, biting at her lower lip before continuing, “Chie and I are involved in a romantic relationship.”

“Damn straight!” confirmed Chie, rocketing to her feet as soon as Yukiko had finished talking to sling her arm around her girlfriend’s waist. She’d probably been ordered to stand down, which would have made Yosuke snicker a bit internally if he hadn’t been _losing his freaking mind_ . “We’ve been dating for _months_ now, but I guess no one noticed! Crazy, huh? Me and Yukiko? But she’s the best, y’know?”

Yosuke sat there, jaw agape, as the other members of the Investigation Team reacted to the news. Naoto didn’t look very surprised, though Yosuke had realized by this point that they were basically unflappable, and Kanji was similarly nodding his approval from beside them. Rise looked vaguely surprised, though not in a bad way – her hands were clasped together and her eyes were practically glittering as she stared at the newly revealed couple.

It was all nice and dandy that Chie and Yukiko were a couple, and his rational mind was experiencing all the proper emotions – surprise, happiness, that warm fuzzy feeling when something good happens to people you like – but a darker corner of his innermost thoughts was seething. He had been building up the courage to announce his and Souji’s relationship for literal _months,_ and the one day – out of all the days in the year! – that he actually planned to do something about it, Chie and Yukiko stole his thunder?

Before he could think the better of it, he was saying loudly, “Are you freaking _kidding_ me?”

Yukiko looked over at him in surprise and worry, dark brows creeping up her forehead, and Chie’s smile was wobbling at the edges, threatening to turn into a mighty glare. _Crap,_ that had come out wrong. Everyone was staring at him now, the jubilant atmosphere dissolving into something strained and awkward as hell.

“No, wait, hold up,” he said hastily, holding his arms out in front of him. “I didn’t mean it like _that,_ I just – well, y’see –”

Chie jumped to her feet and stalked towards him, poking a finger aggressively into his chest. “Listen, _Yosuke,_ ” she began, voice shrill and annoyed and cheeks rapidly reddening in anger. “I get that you’re lonely and sexually frustrated, but don’t take it out on me and Yukiko. We don’t owe you jack _shit._ ”

“Wha–– _sexually frustrated?_ ” spluttered Yosuke, taking a step back and nearly tripping over a chair behind him. “Okay, first of all – you’re totally misunderstanding me! But more importantly, what the hell, Chie!”

“Oh, give it up,” she snarled, taking another step in his direction. _Damn,_ she was terrifying. How did Yukiko put up with that? “Like it’s not obvious how desperate you are for any girl to pay attention to you.”

“I’m not desperate, dude!” he said, voice creeping up the octaves into hysterics. “In fact, I’ll have you know that I’m actually dating someone right now!”

Immediately afterwards, Yosuke regretted his words. His friends knew everyone who he knew – Inaba was a tiny town, and there’s no way he could pretend it was some mystery girl they’d never met. The final nail in Yosuke’s angry gay coffin was that with the time they’d been spending together over the past year, there was no way he could’ve met someone from the city or something. _Crap._

Chie stopped dead in her tracks, stunned into silence. “No you’re not,” she retorted after a few seconds. “We’d know if you were going out with anyone, Inaba’s freaking tiny. Did you just make it up to seem cool, or what?”

A hot flush was gradually creeping up Yosuke’s neck, fanning across his cheeks like he’d been hit with an Agidyne. “I – I didn’t make it up,” he said, stumbling over his words. Oh _man,_ this was gonna be a disaster. He could barely get a word out!  “I – I mean… I just…”

His eyes darted unbidden to where his boyfriend was sitting, observing silently as usual. Souji was watching him intensely from next to Yukiko, grey eyes fixed on Yosuke’s face with unreadable emotion. Even though he had literally no idea what his boyfriend was thinking, the sight of Souji’s face calmed him down a little, and gave him the courage to continue speaking.

“Look, I’m sorry. What I said before totally came out wrong,” admitted Yosuke, looking back to Chie. “I’m really happy for you and Yukiko, and I seriously didn’t mean to make a big deal out of anything. I just – me and the person I’m going out with were going to say something about it to everyone today, and I was just kind of pissed that you got to it first.”

  
Chie blinked, and leaned back on her heels. “Oh,” she said, relaxing. “Uhhh… okay. As long as you’re not gonna be shitty to Yukiko, then I guess it’s fine.”

Yosuke released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, and plopped back down onto his chair, shooting a small grin at Chie as she did the same. “I thought I was toast for sure,” he sighed. “Dude, you’re scary when you want to be.”

Kanji, who was silently knitting, snorted under his breath. He and Naoto were off in their own corner, and Yosuke was pretty sure they’d been dating for a while now – though he wasn’t ready to broach the subject with Kanji yet, and would never have enough courage to ask Naoto.

Yukiko let out a similar little chortle and laid her hand on Chie’s arm. “I must admit, I was a little taken aback by what you said at first,” she said, “but I didn’t think you were really disapproving. Thank you, Yosuke-kun.”

Yosuke smiled at her, half happy and half extremely relieved that his apology had gone over well, and was about to suggest they order a round of sodas on him when Rise opened her mouth and said innocently, “But who _are_ you dating, Yosuke-senpai?”

Yosuke’s happy mood dive bombed back into despair. He’d thought that with all the drama of Yukiko and Chie nobody’d want to ask him anymore, but Rise was scrutinizing him with her discerning gaze, hazel eyes sharp despite her innocuous tone.

“Does it really matter?” he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “The mood just got so good again…”

“I’m curious, too,” said Chie, leaning on her elbows to stare him down from across the table. “It’s gotta be someone at Yasogami, but who’d date Yosuke…?”

"Haha, c'mon…" he said halfheartedly. He was sort of trying to get offended, but he couldn’t muster up the effort.

Everyone was looking at him expectantly except for Naoto, who was eating her meal like nothing at all was happening, and he felt trapped, stifled. If Chie and Yukiko could do it, he reasoned, so could he. Two girls and two guys dating wasn’t so different. But still, he thought of how he’d initially reacted to Kanji’s dungeon, and wondered whether the team – his only friends in Inaba and maybe also the world, at this point – would respond to his announcement in the same way he had freaked out about the dumb bathhouse so many months ago. But he owed it to Souji to say something. His partner had played by Yosuke’s rules for so long, had done everything to make him comfortable and safe and happy, and it was only right that he repaid him for that. And even though it didn’t really matter, Yosuke knew that he owed it to himself, too.

Souji was smiling, probably. It was okay to start talking. He could do this. It would all be fine.

“Uh, well… I'm super nervous about saying this,” he started at last, staring intently at the tablecloth. “I’ve been really shitty about this kind of stuff in the past, especially to Kanji – and I’m really sorry about that, dude, I was the worst. It took me a really long time to face the feelings that I’d been having, but after I saw my Shadow that first time, I knew I didn’t want to bottle up my emotions anymore. I’ve probably made this relationship really hard, but… Souji's my boyfriend now. I _really_ like partner. He’s changed my life and all yours, too, in so many ways, and I just… yeah,” he trailed off, face burning.

He hadn’t meant to blabber on about Souji, but once he started talking the words had spilled out of his mouth like water behind a dam. Though it was embarrassing, now that he had gotten it off his chest it felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He wouldn't have to worry about it, either: everything was out in the open now. It was… nice, almost. And when he finally looked up at his friends, shy and hesitant, no one looked disgusted at all.

Least of all Souji.

**Author's Note:**

> hope y'all enjoyed! it's my first time writing p4, so i hope everything seems good


End file.
